Space Colony ARK (The History of Shadow the Hedgehog)
by Jade Shuriken
Summary: The life of Shadow the Hedgehog 50 years ago on the Space Colony ARK. Discover why he was created and learn about his memories with Maria. These were the best years of his life, but not everything was perfect on the ARK. You can read the chapters in any order or skip as many chapters as you want to in this story.
1. Gerald Robotnik's Diary

Gerald Robotnik's Diary

Shadow the hedgehog…a mistake, or a miracle? An enemy, or a friend? The beginning, or the end?

He is the Ultimate Life Form, an all-powerful living being capable of anything; anything, that is, that he is willing to do and that is his purpose. But what is his purpose? He was primarily created for the benefit of humankind, and of course my dear grandchild, but is that an expectation that he will carry out, and is that what he wishes to do, having also the capability of complex thought and having his own free will? As I write now, I cannot say what fate awaits for Shadow, but I can say that even though his life may bring times of suffering to others and himself, he does have my complete trust.

This all began when the United Federations requested that I take up new research for something they wanted. It was me they went to because of my skill and location. I do believe that I am the top scientist currently, and my work is done in the Space Colony ARK, a large space station for my colleagues and I to conduct scientific research and projects, which orbits the Earth in space, far from the curious eyes of the public.

Now the project that I was to do was to create a being that is _immortal_. They said they wanted a way to immortalize a creature, preferably a human, and that this would solve many problems. They also said that this immortal creature could be used militarily, as a weapon, or a protector.

At first I saw this proposition as silly. Immortality? Impossible. Besides, the project would be extremely difficult and extensive. I had other projects that I was working on that I was content with, and I denied the United Federation's request.

For a while I just continued with my other work on the Space Colony Ark. They kept urging me to make them this mighty creature, yet still, I resisted. I was about to finally tell them to stop pestering with me, until…

Maria became sick. Maria, my sweet little grand-daughter, got the NIDS: Neuro Immuno-Difficiency Syndrome. She had suddenly fallen ill one day looking so frail with all the color drained from her face as she was taken to the hospital room. After the doctor examined her, she was diagnosed with the NIDS, a disease in which the body slowly becomes dysfunctional, with periodic seizure-like failures, and results in death.

It was my worst nightmare. She was my only family on the Space Colony ARK and I loved her deeply. I couldn't imagine losing her. The NIDS was incurable so I knew she would eventually die. If only there was something, anything, to stop from losing her, but the only thing that could do that was…immortality.

There was a spark of hope. Of course! Immortality! There was a chance for her!

As soon as I could, I contacted the United Federation and told them I would do the projects, to save Maria. They were glad to see that I agreed to it and gave me the funding to begin.

All of the scientists aboard the ARK began the project to create the perfect creature. Our first prototype was the BioLizard, a giant heavily-built lizard that could regenerate, self-produce, and restore itself. Even with these characteristics, we had to add more to him to prefect him and after we were through with trying to make him invincible, it had to live off a life support system.

I realized that if we were to make this being immortal, it couldn't be an Earthly creature, for it is our nature to be mortal. So our second attempt was a robot named Emerl. We made him almighty by giving him the ability to copy anything exactly. We were enthusiastic about Emerl as he showed us how he could copy any action, move, voice, or look and this allowed him to do any task. The problem was that he was a robot, and all technology becomes dysfunctional and breaks down.

We had no success with BioLizard and Emerl, and my confidence lowered after our failures, but then I'd see Maria. I'd see her every so often when she'd collapse during her bodily failures and her sad eyes during her times of weakness, and I'd remember why I was doing this. I had to keep trying. I had to save her.

So then I realized that the creature couldn't be at all from this planet, living or machine. It had to be from an alien planet whose inhabitants have much more powerful bodies. I know much about other planets and have done many studies on various planets.

There were two races of aliens that interested me for the project. The first was of the creatures of the planet Mobius. They are anthropomorphic, having characteristics similar to our race like limbs and hands and being able to stand on two feet, and very agile and strong, with special powerful characteristics I sent a crew of scientists there in one of our lightning-speed pods to fetch me data, or if they could, a body. They returned about half a year latyer with a preserved corpse that the Mobians were willing to give. The crew explained to me that it was a male hedgehog who was capable of super speed. I was intrigued by it, and the interesting spikes of its head and its color pattern, which was green with yellow. I officially decided to model our creature after him.

So Project:Shadow officially began. We examined the Mobian hedgehog and began creating the body of our creature in its image, but of course with adjustments to make it perfect. He was coming out magnificently, and we gave him a black and red color, so as to give him an intimidating look. Everything was going greatly and we had given the hedgehog many extraordinary powers!

Shadow was sure to be the most powerful being alive! He had shoes with blasting rockets that would propel him across the ground at crazy speeds! He'd be able to cause destruction with the Spin Attack, where he'd roll into an impenetrable ball and blast, ricochet, fly, and zoom through anything in his path! Shadow would have the power of flight, giving him spectacular advantages in combat! Overall, his body would be strong, durable, and agile, so he would be physically superior to humans.

But the most supreme ability he will have is that he can control the power of the chaos emeralds! That alone would make him all-mighty! Imagine the power he'd have being able to control the emerald's energy purely with his body and nothing else! The emeralds react when together so I infused energy from one of the chaos emeralds into Shadow; now whenever he has possession of a chaos emerald, he can use its power! With the chaos emerald, Shadow can control space and time! This Chaos Control will allow Shadow to freeze time and teleport!

Shadow will also to be able to unleash the emerald's power for destruction! Without an emerald and with only the chaos energy inside him, he can fire a Chaos Spear, an arrow of chaos that can easily destroy objects. With a chaos emerald, he can release the emerald's power in a deadly Chaos Blast! And with all seven chaos emeralds, Shadow will undergo a super transformation of radiant energy, in which he will use the chaos emeralds to their full potential! His control of chaos energy will give him unimaginable power and this is how he will be unstoppable and ultimate!

Now, the second race of aliens involved as I created Shadow was the Black Aliens. They live on the Black Comet, which flies by the Earth every fifty years, and I knew during Project:Shadow that the comet was approaching. The leader of the Black Arms is Black Doom, a large dangerous ghostly creature who's always causing destruction, but what I was interested in was that he is _immortal_. By then I was desperate to find a way to make Shadow immortal. I couldn't find any possible way to make Shadow immortal with my machinery and I had no other choice. The only way was to take from what already exists, and the Comet only came once every fifty years.

So I brought Black Doom to the Space Colony ARK. I knew it was risky to bring the evil alien here, but I had to. The way that I had to transfer Black Doom's immortality to Shadow was to put his blood into Shadow. Being fiendish, Black Doom of course wouldn't do something that doesn't benefit himself so we had to make a deal. In return for giving me some of his blood, Black Doom wanted me to give him the seven chaos emeralds. He wanted them the next time he passed Earth in fifty years and since Shadow was the Ultimate Life Form, he knew that Shadow was capable of doing the task. I couldn't refuse or else the whole project would have been a failure. Giving the chaos emeralds to a demented alien was insane, but I knew I could find a way out of it. He wouldn't get the seven chaos emeralds.

Then the moment began to finally complete the creation. The only thing needed now was the blood to bring him to life and give him eternal life. The motionless body of Shadow was lying in the capsule and my heart was beating fast as I connected his veins to Doom's blood. Then when all of it was pumped into his body, his eyes jerked open. Shadow was alive!


	2. The Ultimate Life Form Awakens

**The Ultimate Life-Form Awakens**

Blood and energy jolted into his body and Shadow jerked awake as life was shot into him. His eyes whipped open and he gasped as air rushed into his lungs.

Shadow breathed heavily with is first breaths and his eyes blinked to focus on his surroundings. The first thing he saw was the glass in front of him of the capsule he was standing in and his reflection in it. He saw his red eyes staring back at him, with the white of his eyes, the black of his faced, and the spikes of his head. His eyes focused to farther objects beyond the glass, where there were two individuals peering at him. One was a bald old man, with a large gray moustache under small glasses, wearing a lab coat. The other was a floating tall dull-purple creature, whose body was a square-shape cloaked in a decorated robe, and a head with three eyes and two long horns coming from each side. Both were standing in a complicated laboratory with many machines.

But Shadow didn't remember any of this. Having just awakened, Shadow's brain hadn't reached its full intelligence yet which had been put into it. Shadow was just confused and blank-minded. The only thought that went through his mind was that he should get out of this capsule.

Shadow lifted his hand slowly, looked at it, curled his fingers into a fist, and then threw the fist at the glass. The glass shattered instantly from the force of the punch, which threw Shadow forward with it. He fell with the glass until he was on the floor, then he got to his feet, and stood tall and strong.

Gerald Robotnik smiled eagerly. "Ah, he is showing his strength already," he said, rubbing his hands together. "I have high hopes for you Shadow."

"Indeed," echoed the deep voice of Black Doom. The alien leader floated closer to Shadow and Shadow gave him a hard stare as he spoke. "I shall remember your face, Shadow the Hedgehog, for when I return fifty years from now. Then, you shall fulfill the promise your creator has made to me and bring me the seven chaos emeralds," he said, before he disappeared by descending through the floor.

Dr. Robotnik looked at Black Doom with a look of slight fear and anxiety as he disappeared, but then he saw Shadow again and he rushed over to him with excitement. Shadow was still confused and he stood motionless as Dr. Robotnik knelt down and put his hands on Shadow's arms with a warm smile for him.

"Hello, Shadow," he said slowly, as if he were speaking to a fragile child. But Shadow didn't respond and Gerald Robotnik tried speaking again. "My name is Gerald Robotnik," and he put a hand to his chest to indicate himself. Shadow just stared blankly again. Dr. Robotnik hesitated in thought, then tried something to make Shadow acknowledge his words.

"Shadow, I want you to shake my hand," Gerald Robotnik told him and he held his hand out for Shadow. Shadow stared at Robotnik's hand, then his own hand, and hesitantly lifted his hand. "Yes, that's it!" Dr. Robotnik encouraged him as Shadow took his hand and shook it.

"Good! Good!" Dr. Robotnik cheered. Shadow was activating his brain and he needed to start it up even further. "Now answer this: what color is your arm?"

Shadow looked at his arm and doubtfully answered, "Black."

"Yes!" Dr. Robotnik praised him. He was excited and believed Shadow could take it even a step further. He wanted to see if Shadow could perform one of his attacks yet. "Shadow, try rolling through that box right there," he told Shadow as he pointed to an empty metal box by the machines.

Shadow turned towards the box, wondering why he was to roll through it, but he did what Gerald Robotnik told him to do. Shadow tucked in towards the ground and started to roll, then as he spun again, he went faster and faster in place until he was a blur of black, and a spherical barrier of orange was formed around him from his spinning. Then he shot forward at a surprisingly fast speed and blasted through the box, sending pieces flying everywhere.

He slowed to a stop near the wall, going back onto his feet, and looked back at the debris with astonishment. Shadow was amazed at what he just did, and that move was so compelling, but he destruction he caused to that box was exhilarating. He had an urge to blast through something again.

Ignoring the compliments from Dr. Robotnik and then the alarmed shouts, Shadow went into his Spin Attack again and rammed into the machine attached to his capsule.

"Shadow! No, stop!" Dr. Robotnik yelled frantically as Shadow made numerous blows to the machine from the air. He smashed every part of it until nothing was left standing and it was in a complete mess, with metal and wires scattered.

Dr. Robotnik gaped in horror at his work being destroyed and he wasn't abel to stop the uncontrollable hedgehog. Shadow rolled through the air across the room after demolishing the machine and blasted through the door. The door flew off his hinges and slammed onto the wall of the hall in front of it.

"Stop Shadow!" Dr. Robotnik yelled again as he ran towards Shadow with his hand outstretched. Shadow felt threatened by the Doctor's action so he lunged for the broken door. He seized the door in his hands, and with tremendous strength, he flung it at the scientist. Dr. Robotnik gasped and flinched at the door towards him, but it hit the door way sideways and broke apart before it was able to reach him. Shadow narrowed his eyes in irritation that he had missed.

Then he dashed away from Dr. Robotnik and started running down the large gradually curving hallway in a sort of crazed trance. Shadow ran fast with a feeling of restlessness and excitement so he ran even faster.

Suddenly, rockets exploded form the bottom of his shoes that propelled Shadow forward even faster. Shadow slid uncontrollably at first form the slippery rockets, but then he moved his feet like he was skating. It came to him naturally. Shadow's feet smoothly went to the skating motion with the rockets as if he had always known how to skate.

Then roaring emergency sirens sounded throughout the hall. They wailed loudly while the hall abruptly converted to red as spinning emergency lights on the ceiling turned on.

Seeing the spinning light turn on, Shadow chose them as his next victim to release his dazed anger. Shadow hurled himself at the lights with his Spin Attack, rolling and bouncing everywhere as he shattered the emergency lights and submerged the hallway behind him in darkness.

He had destroyed about fifteen lights when the hallway suddenly became blocked off. Surprised, Shadow landed on the floor, with one knee and one land on the floor, as huge doors slammed shut across the hallway both in front of him and behind him, which trapped him in between four looming walls of glowing red metal.

Shadow clenched his fist with rage and determination. He wasn't going to let these mere walls trap him.

Shadow rolled into his sphere, rolled backwards away from the wall in front of him, and fired himself forward at the wall. He pierced through the metal of the blockade, and with the speed he built up, he shot through more walls along the hall that had shut.

Then Shadow stopped as he arrived at a large passageway that branched off from this hall which hadn't been blocked. It had large pipes hanging from the ceiling going in every direction and many mechanical boxes jutting from the walls. He was about to dash down that way until he saw something that made him freeze.

In the red light, a large group of men in uniform stood before Shadow with guns in their hands. They were in thick gear, with large helmets and boots, and the words "ARK SECURITY" across their chests.

The security guard in the front shouted over the wailing sirens, "Stay down and come with us peacefully!" Shadow could see the hard glare of the guard's eyes in the opening of his helmet as he pointed his gun at Shadow.

Shadow knew that guns were dangerous, but he felt confident against these humans. He wasn't going to just surrender to them.

Shadow jumped up to the ceiling and flipped onto one of the pipes while the security guards began to fire at him. He hopped along the pipes on the ceiling close to the spinning red lights, avoiding the static missiles that the men below shot up from the ground.

The men shouted as the pipes they shot collapsed from the ceiling and tumbled down on top of them. Shadow looked back with mischief at the security guards diving out of the way of the falling pipes.

Smoke and water flowed out of the broken pipes, which were red in the light. Red smoke sprayed out and drifted everywhere while water splashed on the floor where the men were.

Shadow yanked a vertical pipe out of place to use as a weapon and leaped down to the floor. Some of the security guards were coming out of the smoke so Shadow ran down the passage. He skated away as the guards started in pursuit and Shadow skated side to side with the pole in his hands when they shot at him again. Shadow dodged the firing electric missiles until the passageway opened up into a massive room.

The room was a grand laboratory with towering columns containing different experiments, a large cylindrical machine in the center with rotating sections and lights, many people and scientist gathered nervously around counters, and the light there wasn't as red as in the halls.

The people gasped and the women shouted as Shadow ran into the room. The many objects in the room gave Shadow the urge to destroy and he charged in. People tried to run away as Shadow swung his pipe at a glass column, sending glass and little robot-experiments flying at them. He swung the pipe at more columns until the pipe broke in half and was useless.

Some people were able to run away from side doors, but others were trapped in between fallen glass and pillars. They ducked behind counters when Shadow went into his rolling sphere and crashed through counters and the machine at the center of the lab. He knocked over anything he could and broke off any extending parts of the machine by flying through them.

Then the security guards who had escaped the fallen pipes arrived at the room. Shadow came down from his Spin Attack on a countertop when he saw them and the guards spotted him too. They pointed their guns at him, but then saw the people there, and lowered their guns.

Shadow took advantage of them lowering their weapons so he grabbed a heavy container on the counter and hurled it at the guards. They ducked and ran as the container flew and smashed down on the ground behind them.

Shadow jumped down from the counter and was about to run toward the guards when a small hand grasped his arm from behind.

"Stop!" a girl's voice shouted. Shadow turned in surprise and saw the girl holding his arm. She was a girl of about ten years old, with pleasant innocent blue eyes, soft blonde hair that went to her shoulders and was held back by a blue head-bad, with a baby-blue dress and a small flue sweater on top of it.

"You're hurting all these people," she told him with pleading eyes, pointing to the injured people stuck underneath counters and pillars. "You can't do this to the lab. You might kill someone." Shadow was mesmerized into calmness by her soft eyes and gentle touch. He stared into her pleading face and his brain suddenly snapped alive.

"Will you please stop?" the girl begged again.

Shadow nodded. "Yes."

Then the girl smiled at that, and that smile sent a wave of delight through Shadow's body. She said, "Oh, thank you!"

Shadow asked her, "Who are you?"

"I'm Maria," she replied. "What's your name?"

"I'm Shadow," he said. "Shadow the Hedgehog."


	3. Lasting Memories

Lasting Memories

Shadow stood flat against the wall, hiding in the shadows of a row of ten-foot tall computers. He blended in with the darkness, trying to be as silent as possible, as he looked for a way to sneak out.

There were computers all along the walls of the huge room, where a large rectangular hole was in the center of which held a strange glowing green substance. There were large crane robots working with the substance.

Shadow walked low past the computers along the wall and checked for signs of anyone before dashing across the bridge over the hole. He dove behind one of the cranes on the other side of the hole and looked back across the room, but no one was there.

He walked with cautious steps toward the hallway leading out of the room. Shadow kept looking back over his shoulder as he approached a turn in the hall.

He reached the corner of the hall and continued to watch his back until "Aha!" Shadow jumped with surprise as Maria came from behind the corner and grabbed his arm. "I found you!" She giggled as Shadow turned around to her with astonishment. "You didn't see me coming did you?"

Shadow smiled and shook his head. "I thought you were behind me the whole time."

"I'm getting pretty good at this game," Maria said proudly with her hands behind her back. "I've been memorizing all the different passageways around here."

"Well now it's my turn to get you!" Shadow exclaimed as he made a step toward Maria to scare her off.

Maria ran out of the way with a cry of delight. "But I get a ten-second head start!" she exclaimed as she started fleeing down the hallway where Shadow came from.

Shadow stood and looked over at Maria with a feeling of love and friendship. He saw her blonde hair swaying back and forth along with her dainty dress and her little blue shoes tapping on the metal while she ran down the hall. He enjoyed playing hide-and-go-seek with Maria and all the other games she'd play with him. She always had a way to make them have fun together.

Ever since Maria had calmed him from his rampage on the day he was created, Shadow had been behaving more congenially and civilly. Professor Robotnik and the other scientists had accepted him afterwards and approved him as safe, so the work on Project:Shadow continued, and Shadow was welcomed into the Space Colony ARK family. The one who welcomed him most was Maria, and they had become the closest of friends.

After ten seconds and after Maria had gone, Shadow ran down the hall to chase her. He made sure not to go to his rocket speed since Maria had told him not to, and he ran back to the room he came from, since he saw her there last.

But he arrived at the room with the computers and the liquid abyss and he didn't see Maria there anywhere. Shadow peered down the other two halls leading out of the room from other walls, but didn't see her there either.

He decided to try down the hall where he thought he heard noise and hurried off that way and across the bridge until Maria darted out from behind one of the cranes. She let out a burst of giggles as she ran right where Shadow had just been and back to the same hallway.

Shadow couldn't believe that he'd been tricked again, but he couldn't get mad at Maria, with her playful expression as she looked back at him. Shadow ran back, across the bridge yet again, to chase Maria down that same hallway. He raced down the hall toward her and became closer as they approached the corner. Maria looked back another time and a look of shock was on her face when she saw how close Shadow was. She put on a burst of speed as she turned around the corner, but Shadow was too fast for her. He sped around the corner and tagged Maria on the shoulder.

Maria staggered to a stop, panting and catching her breath. Shadow came up beside her with a small grin showing his pride to wait for Maria's response.

"You're running too fast for me, Shadow," Maria faintly complained with heavy breaths.

Shadow looked down to his feet disapprovingly of himself. He had forgotten to control himself. "I'm sorry, Maria," he apologized guiltily. "It was unfair of me to do that."

Maria gazed down at Shadow looking guiltily at his feet and grabbed his hands in hers to calm him. Shadow looked back up at Maria. "It's okay, Shadow," she said gently. "I forgive you." She put her arms around him and hugged him close to her, and Shadow felt loved.

So throughout all the days aboard the Space Colony ARK, Shadow and Maria kept each other company. When there was nothing to do in that isolated station way above Earth, the two were there for each other, and they played games together and spent time together. Shadow was having the best time of his life as he grew closer and closer to Maria.

Shadow loved to read books with Maria in the evenings in her bedroom. She had a room that looked different than the rest of the metallic machine-filled rooms of the ARK—it was made into a comfortable cut little girl's bedroom. Covering the metal floor and walls, there was a bed with plush blankets and pillows, floral rugs and carpets along the ground, a shelf standing against the wall with rows of books, and pink chests filled with clothes and dolls.

It was near nigh-time on the ARK, when the sun was on the opposite side of the Earth, when Shadow went into Maria's bedroom with her to read a book.

Maria said, "We should read one of my favorite books. It's called The Tale of Peter Rabbit." She went over to her bookshelf and pulled out a thin book from the top row with eagerness to read it to Shadow.

They settled down on a pile of pillows at the foot of the bed with their backs against the bed. Shadow felt warm and snug with Maria.

Shadow looked at the cover of the book in Maria's lap. He looked intriguingly at the painting in a square of a rabbit in a blue coat standing in a garden. Shadow had never seen anything like the garden, filled with green leaves instead of metal and machines.

Maria admired the painting with him and commented, "I especially like picture books. I like looking at all of the pictures of things on Earth, but sometimes Grandfather says I should be reading longer books more often."

"Where do you get all of these books from?" Shadow asked, peering over at her shelf full of books.

"Whenever they send supplies up here from Earth, Grandfather asks for them to send books with them for me," she replied.

Maria opened up the book and flipped to the first page. She read with her gentle voice, "Once upon a time there were four little rabbits, and their names were—Flopsy, Mopsy, Cotton-tail, and Peter." She turned to the next page. "They lived with their Mother in a sand-bank, underneath the root of a very big fir tree." Shadow listened intently to Maria reading the story with his eyes glued to the pages.

Further into the book, Maria read about how Peter had eaten from Mr. McGregor's garden and that now the man was after peter. "Peter rushed into the tool-shed, and jumped into a can," Maria said, reading about Peter running away from Mr. McGregor. "It would have been a beautiful thing to hide in, if it had not had so much water in it." Shadow looked at the illustration of Peter hopping into a watering-can as Maria read.

Maria also examined the illustration and commented, "I think he could have found a better place to hide than in a watering-can, don't you Shadow?"

He nodded. "Maybe in a place where he could escape easier, or at least somewhere he'd stay dry."

Maria giggled and agreed with him. "Yeah," rabbits probably don't like getting wet. Well, if I had to hid somewhere, I'd hide behind a pumpkin or a watermelon in the garden since they can get really big. What about you, Shadow?" She tossed her blonde hair to the side and looked down at Shadow beside her.

"I'd fight that man if he got in my way," Shadow replied, representing his words with a fist. "then he'll be the one who's hiding."

"But Shadow, he wouldn't deserve that," Maria remarked. She lowered his fist so Shadow relaxed his hand from its position. "Mr. McGregor is probably just trying to protect his garden, and fighting isn't always the answer."

With his brows lowered over his eyes, Shadow re-thought his words, realizing it was an over-reaction, and corrected it by saying, "Then I'd hide under that wheelbarrow in the shed." He pointed to the picture on the page that Maria had flipped to, that showed the contents of the shed, where a wheelbarrow stood.

Maria turned back to the book and smiled. "That's a wonderful place to hide, Shadow."

Then she continued reading The Tale of Peter Rabbit and both of them thoroughly enjoyed the story. Shadow found the story appealing almost as much as Maria did.

There were many nights that Shadow and Maria spent reading together, in that room, at the foot of that bed, and on top of those soft pillows.


	4. The Sorrows of Shadow the Hedgehog

**The Sorrows of Shadow the Hedgehog**

The radiant blue Earth levitated among the darkness, surrounded by glittering stars. The color of the ocean shone in a dazzling blue with patches of soft swirling white clouds floating in the atmosphere. The north and south poles were covered in cold white snow, while the land of the center was green from forests, gray from cities, brown from mountains, and yellow from deserts.

Shadow gazed at the magnificent planet from the Space Colony ARK, where he stood behind a wide glass window in a large empty room. He stood close, with arm crossed and face stern, as he silently marveled at the majestic surface of the Earth.

He was too distracted by the Earth to see that Maria had walked into the room. "Are you going to stare out that window all day, Shadow?" she asked humorously. Shadow diverted his attention briefly from the window to see Maria walk up to his side and give him a warm greeting-smile before turning back to the view.

"It's just so…" Shadow's voice faded, unable to find the words to describe how he felt. Looking out at the Earth from the ARK, and seeing it there, knowing that there were so many things in it, so many wonderful things that he couldn't reach, made him long desperately to escape this metal prison and see the things of the Earth. The Earth from afar looked so magnificent, so how great would it be from up close? It was a mystery that lay underneath what Shadow could only see now, that was held away from him by the window that he was trapped behind, and he felt the closest that he could get when he was able to see the Earth.

After Shadow gave no response to Maria, her eyes became sympathizing with emotion that showed that she understood how Shadow felt, even without words, and that she shared his yearning. She gazed at the Earth with Shadow and they stood silently together behind the large window.

"Shadow, what do you think it's like on Earth?" Maria asked thoughtfully with her eyes still on Earth.

"I think it's filled with so many things to see and so many things to do," Shadow replied.

"But what about the people?" Maria wondered. "Do you think they're all good happy people?"

Shadow contemplated on that, and he truthfully didn't know how the people of Earth were like, the only people he knew were Maria and the ARK scientists, but he remembered what Gerald Robotnik had told him once.

"The professor said his life's work was dedicated to all of those who live down there. He once told that the reason for his existence was making people happy through the power of science." Shadow thought over again about Dr. Robotnik's words. His words about Earth and existence, it made Shadow feel emotionally overwhelmed.

"Shadow-"

"Maria," he interrupted. He felt that he had to tell her. "I just don't anything anymore. I often wonder why I was created? What my purpose is for being here. Maybe if I go down there…" he paused and looked away as he closed his eyes. "I will find the answers. Maybe…" Shadow closed his eyes tighter with anguish.

"No…Shadow," Maria struggled to say. "I…I…" Shadow opened his eyes and turned around with surprise from the weakness of her voice. Shadow was shocked to see that Maria's face had turned ghost-white and her legs were trembling.

"Shadow-"

Her eyes closed and she fell backwards. Shadow lunged forward and caught Maria in his arms.

He stood in shock at first at Maria, who lay unconscious and sickly-looking in his arms. He became worried and decided to take her to the hospital-room.

Shadow ran quickly with Maria in his arms out of the room and toward the hospital-room. He was nervous as he ran; wondering what had caused her to faint so suddenly. Luckily, the hospital-room was near.

When Shadow was about to approach the door of the hospital-room, one of the nurses opened the door to walk out. She stepped out of the room and then gasped when she saw Maria unconscious with Shadow.

"Quick, take her inside," the nurse instructed him urgently and held the door open for Shadow to bring her in.

He hurriedly rushed into the room, where hospital-beds were lined against the wall with hospital equipment around. Shadow was going to set her down on one of the empty beds, but the nurse stopped him.

"This way," she led him to a curtain that separated the right side of the room and pulled it aside. In there, was a single bed, but it was surrounded by huge intricate equipment, which must have been for treating some terribly sick patient.

Shadow stood frozen in confusion as the nurse took Maria from him, set her on the bed, and, with the help of the doctor, began attaching tubes to her mouth and wrists from the machines. Shadow was troubled and perplexed, yet speechless, by seeing Maria's frail delicate face and small little arms under those tubes attached to the machines, with monitors with digitalized numbers, different capsules in irregular shapes, and mechanical parts making vibrating noises. Shadow gaped at the machines, in denial in his mind of the clear meaning of this sight.

As the doctor and the nurse worked with the machine, Shadow slowly approached Maria's bedside and felt her hand; it was a bit cold, but then he saw her stomach moving slightly from breathing, and he felt somewhat relieved.

Shadow heard the sound of a shutting door and turned to see Dr. Robotnik walking in. With his eyebrows lowered over his glasses and his hands behind his back in worry, he went up to the opposite side of Maria's bed.

Gerald Robotnik asked in his aged voice, "How is she, doctor?"

The doctor replied, "Fairly well,. She should wake up in about ten minutes."

"Did she come here before she fainted, saying she was feeling sick, or…?"

"She was brought in unconscious."

"By Shadow?"

"Yes."

Dr. Robotnik looked down at Shadow with a grateful smile. "Thank you, Shadow, for bringing her here." All Shadow could do was give him a nod of acknowledgment in his confused anguish.

Dr. Robotnik dismally gazed down at Maria and gently brushed aside her blonde hair which had lay on her cheek.

Shadow raised his eyes to Dr. Robotnik and asked quietly, "Professor?" He looked up toward Shadow to listen. "Is Maria…going to be okay?"

Dr. Robotnik sighed heavily and hesitated to answer.

Shadow asked again, "Why did this happen?"

The professor looked down at Maria once more in grief and answered, "It seems that I will have to explain to you now about Maria's horrible condition, the thing that agonizes my heart the most, and may do to yours also."

"Maria has a disease called NIDS: Neuro Immuno-Deficiency Syndrome, which is a body function disorder. Every so often, her body fails and she faints, so we have to connect her to this machine." His voice was becoming shakier and a tear ran down his face from behind his glasses. "We have to use the machine to properly revive her. She can be sick for up to three weeks sometimes in this hospital bed with the machine supplying her with energy."

Shadow gaped in despair at the terrible news. He felt deep pain from the pain that Maria had to go through. Why did this have to happen to her? She was so sweet and innocent, and Shadow would have done taken the suffering for her himself if he could.

He asked, "Will Maria ever become cured of the disease? Is she going to be okay?" He clenched his fist as he waited with suspense for the answer, hoping for the best.

Dr. Robotnik opened his mouth to speak, but he paused, having a look of doubt on his face, contemplating on the words that he should say. Then he just shook his head. "Don't worry Shadow; I'll take care of it." Giving Shadow a small assuring smile, he stepped away from the bed and gave him a quick pat on the shoulder before walking towards the door and out of the hospital-room.

Shadow stayed at Maria's bed-side to wait for her to awaken. He loyally stayed with her, with his hand on her hand, and the nurse working on the machine behind him. Even though the professor had said not worry, he did worry a lot for her, and he worried about how sad and miserable she'd be, but he did trust Dr. Robotnik when he said that he'd take care of her.

Shadow felt Maria's hand move. Maria took a deep breath and slowly opened her sleepy blue eyes. She examined the place and saw that she was on the hospital room, and then she looked at Shadow.

He asked her. "How are you feeling Maria?"

She smiled weakly at him and answered, "I feel really tired and weak, but I guess I'm okay."

Seeing that Maria was awake, the nurse came briefly to ask, "You doing okay, sweetie?" and after Maria nodded she said, "Just tell me if you need something," then she walked away and closed the curtains.

Maria lowered her head slightly in guilt and said faintly to Shadow, "I'm sorry if I scared you before, Shadow. I just … don't like talking about this."

Shadow answered, "It's fine. The professor told me about it." He didn't want her to worry about him when she was the one who was sick.

When Maria raised her head, Shadow was surprised to see tears forming in her eyes. "This is why I can't go to Earth," she despaired through tears and sobs. "I have to stay with Grandfather so he can take care of me and he's trying to find a cure to this. My parents said it was best to stay with him and to be here since it's away from all the other people. Grandfather said that it could be contagious if someone is around me too often when I'm sick." She paused to wipe tears with the back of her hand. "I get really lonely sometimes all by myself in here since no one can stay in here too long." Maria looked at Shadow and was able to giggle a little through her tears at the uncertain face he was giving her. "Don't worry, grandfather told me that you can't get it."

So Shadow remarked, "Then I'll stay with you here if no one else can. I'll be here whenever you're lonely."

Maria's face lightened up at the thought of having a friend who could stay without the danger of catching her disease. "Thank you, so much Shadow." She said in appreciation. "That would really help."

"No problem," Shadow replied.

Then Maria scrutinized Shadow thoughtfully and asked, "Why can't _you_ go to Earth, Shadow?"

Shadow remembered the despised cause with loathing, although he was acceptant of its rational reasoning. "The professor isn't completely finished with all of the projects and research on, or related, to me," Shadow said with reluctance towards the words. "He also told me that the world isn't ready for me yet, and that I am not ready for it either."

He sighed disturbingly upon reflection of their situations. "You and I both share this unfortunate ruin."

With her eyes nearly dry, Maria tried to take Shadow's depressing view to a brighter light. "But then we have each other to get through it together," she said. "Everything will be alright if we're there for each other."

Shadow already felt warmed by Maria's words. If she could soothe him now, then she could soothe him through the toughest problems, and they'd give each other hope together.

Maria remarked, "If I ever get the chance to leave, Shadow, I'll wait for you."

"And I'll wait for you," Shadow said back. "We'll go to Earth together and I can take you to see all the great places there."

Maria nodded. "And we can go and see my family."

"And we can go to the big cities with skyscrapers."

"And to forests with pretty flowers."

"And to all mountains covered in snow."

"And little shops that sell dolls."

Shadow and Maria laughed humorously at Maria's last suggestion and they were now smiling as they imagined going to Earth.

"Maria," Shadow said with sincerity. "I promise I'll take you to earth someday." This made Maria smile, and Shadow wanted to see that smile on her face when he took her to Earth. This promise was a promise that Shadow was determined to fulfill.


	5. Fall of the ARK: Part 1

Fall of the Ark

The fall of the ARK was the turning point in his life, the end to everything he cared about, and the occurrence of everything he had dreaded. Along with all who died, his happiness died with them, and the worst moment of it all haunted him for the rest of his life.

The terror began when Shadow and Maria were summoned into the radio transmission room by Dr. Robotnik. Although they had never been called into that room before, they didn't suspect that such a terrible thing awaited them. The two of them entered, where Dr. Robotnik and a few other men stood behind rows of radios and control panels that were filled with buttons, screens, and lights. One of the men had a phone up to his ear, and was waiting for someone to answer the phone on the other end, and Dr. Robotnik was sitting in a desk chair, hunched worriedly over a typed message on one of the screens.

He stood up urgently once he saw Shadow and Maria enter. Shadow could see the anxiety in his face, which made him feel uncomfortably nervous. The three of them stood in the middle of the radio room, with Dr. Robotnik fearful, Shadow uneasy, and Maria confused.

Dr. Robotnik wiped his sweaty brow and said troublesomely, "I have some terribly upsetting news that I'll have to be completely honest about with both of you."

"Someone has leaked out information about Project:Shadow," Dr. Robotnik announced. "We don't know who it is, but he's given away more than is safe for anyone." Shadow felt his heart drop and his breathing become unsteady. Someone had made his existence known , and now he was in extreme danger. Dr. Robotnik had always warned that other people couldn't handle the knowledge that an Ultimate Life Form existed, and they'd do terrible things with that knowledge.

Maria became frightened. "But grandfather! Why would anyone do such a thing?" she exclaimed. She, too, had been warned by Dr. Robotnik. "Who did they tell about Shadow?"

Dr. Robotnik replied hopelessly, "G.U.N."

Maria gasped and threw her arms around Shadow in terror to hug him. G.U.N. was the Guardian Unit of Nations, the army of the United Nations, and they had the power to destroy. Shadow was already feeling more and more imperiled, and he tried to speak his fear, but nothing would come out.

The professor further explained, "G.U.N. has been told about your strong powers, Shadow, and they believe your power is a threat. Then they learned how I made you immortal, how I had put us all in danger by consorting with wicked aliens."

"Aliens?" Maria asked, expressing the same confusion as Shadow.

Dr. Robotnik nodded in admittance. "I made Shadow immortal by using the blood of the alien Black Doom, who is an evil soul notorious for invading other planets, and now G.U.N. believes that because of me, Black Doom will now come and attack Earth next." He sighed and glanced back at the message once again. "So now, they said, they must take action against us."

Shadow felt as if his exposure was choking his neck, and he felt as if he were surrounded by it, with no escape from inevitable doom. The fact that he had the blood of the wicked Black Doom didn't wasn't on his mind as he worried over this, but he managed to ask, "What will happen, professor? Is everything going to be okay?"

"I'm not exactly sure," Dr. Robotnik fretted. "The message isn't exactly clear, but the entire Space Colony ARK is in danger. I'm afraid they'll shut the whole place down." He shook his head, overwhelmed by the truth, and he had to sit down in his chair again.

The man at the phone had finally received an answer on the other end and had been listening during the conversation, but now he was shouting frantically. "Just let me talk to G.U.N.!" he shouted impatiently. "What do you mean you won't let me?...Get me someone from G.U.N.! Anybody from G.U.N.!" he yelled with more and more panic. "You can't do this to us! You can't let them come! Stop them!" The phone beeped as they hung up on him and he slammed the phone back.

Maria's arms were trembling around Shadow and he could feel his own knees shaking as the man explained with a quivering voice, "G.U.N. is already on its way here." Shadow could feel his head explode as everything in him felt as if it were torn apart instantly.

Dr. Robotnik had his face buried in his hands, muttering to himself with anguish, "This is all my fault. If I hadn't brought the Black Aliens here…" He shook his head ruefully.

But he made himself stand up through the regrets and told the man, "We have to prepare and get everyone to safety."

The man shook his head in despair. "It's too late."

The sound of gunshots blasted in the distance, mixed with screams of agony and panic. A new worsened fear rose in all of them as they heard their friends being slaughtered by G.U.N.

"No…this can't be happening," Shadow whispered. This was the worst thing that could happen. Everything was about to end.

"Shadow," Maria whispered, still hugging him through the repeating sounds of gunshots. "I'm scared."

Suddenly the door was blown off its hinges and G.U.N. soldiers charged in. Maria screamed and everyone dropped to the ground as the uniformed soldiers fired rapidly at the walls to destroy any machinery in sight. Shadow bent over Maria to shield her from gunfire and they cringed with fear for their lives as booming gunshots glared and flew over their head onto exploding radios.

The firing ceased and one soldier shouted, "There they are! Capture them!"

Shadow and Maria stood up, but Shadow didn't have time to fight back. Just as he caught sight of the G.U.N. soldiers, with their visor-ed helmets and heavy gear, metallic cords were shot at him. They hit him in the chest and wrapped around his and Maria's bodies. The cables were quickly coiled around and around their bodies from the speed they were shot at and Shadow and Maria toppled to the ground, losing their balance from being squeezed together. Shadow fell hard onto his side and he felt the hard cords lock into place, trapping his arms at his sides.

"No!" Shadow cried out. He twisted and squirmed to escape the imprisoning bands, but the strange technology in it kept the cords locked tight around him and Maria. The people of the ARK needed his help; they were dying and Shadow was restrained from coming to the rescue. He had to save everyone but he was trapped.

Dr. Robotnik fell to the ground beside them with the imprisoning bands wrapped around him. He looked up in pain and they exchanged glances in fear.

G.U.N. soldiers lifted the three of them up and dragged them toward the door by their shoulders despite Shadow's violent kicking and struggling. Maria struggled weakly beside him as she started to cry and Dr. Robotnik was desperately shouting, "Please! Don't do this! You can't kill all of my scientists! Please, they're innocent! This is inhumane!"

The G.U.N. soldiers coldly ignored him and the commanding soldier ordered, "We'll have to keep the girl with the Ultimate Life Form! Now finish off the rest of them!"

Dr. Robotnik yelled, "No!" as the soldiers fired. Shadow and Maria froze in appalled shock as they witnessed the other three men being murdered. The men had no time to run, and as the sparking bullets exploded from the guns, the men collapsed instantly, with blood spilling from their chests and foreheads.

Maria cried out in horror at their dead bodies and the scene was drawn away when they were dragged out of the room over the broken door. They were dragged to the wide hallway, which was on the exterior of the ARK so it had large windows on the walls showing outer space. It was a commotion in the hall and rows and rows of G.U.N. soldiers rushed by with their heavy boots stomping the ground and their guns in hand. The size of the G.U.N. army seemed twice as large as it actually was with the reflection of the soldiers dashing along the windows. Shadow's hope was dying when he saw the enormous army of G.U.N. soldiers; G.U.N. was her to shut the ARK down for good. They really were here to kill of the entire populace of the Space Colony ARK.

The end of the line of soldiers quickly drew near and a small motorized vehicle speedily approached. A G.U.N. soldier drove the vehicle form an attached seat and wheel in front of a flatbed and it jerked to a halt in front of them. Shadow, Maria, and the professor were shoved onto the flatbed and they were slammed against the machines that were piled on the back.

The commanding soldier ordered, "Take them to the third gate!"

The driver nodded and he sped off again. Shadow and Maria slid on their sides at the sudden start with Shadow facing the interior wall and Maria facing Dr. Robotnik beside her. Riding in the vehicle alongside the long line of soldiers, Shadow strained and pulled his arms outward more in frantic attempts to break the bands and Dr. Robotnik was trying to calm Maria.

The agonizing guilt inside of Shadow was increasing knowing that more and more scientists were being slaughtered by G.U.N. that instant and he was failing in his duty to protect them; he was letting them down.

Then the vehicle slammed to a stop again in front of another door, causing Shadow to look up. His heart seemed to faint when he saw what was happening inside of the large room. G.U.N. soldiers had just charged in and they were seizing all of the innocent people there, dragging them out from their cover, yanking them away from their hiding places among the machines, and beating people to the ground who were scrambling to escape, where other soldiers proceeded to murder them with their deadly guns. Shadow was beginning to die on the inside from seeing familiar faces being shot to their death among the havoc of destruction, blood, and corruption. The sounds of guns and screams were overwhelming and the smell of the exploding machines' smoky fumes and the blood was nauseating. The G.U.N. soldiers didn't even seem to be morally afflicted that they were cruelly shooting unsuspecting people and they just continued to hunt mercilessly for every victim and to shoot them hard until they were dead for sure.

One woman was making a mad dash toward the door to escape, but G.U.N. soldiers were soon upon her and they dragged and shoved her to the ground as she cringed at their forcefulness. One of the soldiers pinned her to the ground with his foot on her back and the gun in his hand, pointed at her head, and the woman looked up at Shadow before her death. Her eyes stared pleadingly and despairingly, that seemed to say "If only you were there to save us," in hopelessness and grief of all that was lost, and the life she was about to lose; it tortured Shadow and it made his heart weep in misery. Then the soldier pulled the trigger with a boom and the woman's head immediately fell to the ground with blood and hair falling onto her face.

The G.U.N. soldiers next to Shadow were just finishing loading valuable machines onto the vehicle and Maria was trembling from hearing the massacre behind her, but Shadow wasn't paying attention to that. As he stared at the scene, where the soldiers were beginning to file out of, a new feeling was rising up inside of him. The deadly scene of blood, battered bodies, and destruction was swelling into a mixture of increasing guilt, dramatic desperation, and enraged despair.

The vehicle jerked into motion once more and the new feeling that engulfed Shadow built up into infuriated strength. Emotions of fury for the lives being lost and anger that he had done nothing fed the anger inside of him. Shadow pulled against the bands around him harder and harder with more strength building in his arms.

Maria felt the cords' grip being loosened around her body. "Shadow!" she exclaimed in enthusiastic hope when she saw that Shadow was stretching the bands.

Shadow tugged at the cords with great strength and determination. He could feel a power stirring within him from his strength and emotions; it was the chaos power that lay within him, being energized, and brought forth until, with an intense shout, Shadow released the power. It was the Chaos Spear, shooting out from Shadow's body with a radiant yellow light in the form of an arrow, which penetrated through the hard metal bands and split it apart.

Shadow and Maria were released from the bands and the force of the Chaos Spear threw them off the vehicle. Maria tumbled off the vehicle with surprise, but Shadow found himself levitating in the air. The power of the chaos energy put Shadow into the air and he discovered his ability to fly along with Chaos Spear.

Shadow immediately attacked the vehicle upon his escape. In flight, he summoned the power again by shouting, "Chaos Spear!" and threw a wave of shocking light toward the vehicle, hitting the driver and the front of the vehicle. The front exploded and the soldier was killed from the Chaos Spear, then the vehicle swerved out of control and crashed with force onto the wall of the hall, taking out three G.U.N. soldiers in its path.

The end of the line of G.U.N. soldiers stopped and turned to see Shadow and the crash while the rest of the line continued on, oblivious to Shadow's escape.

Shadow clenched his hands into fists and crossed them into an X, bringing them in towards his body, gathering energy. Then he swung his arms open to launch a huge Chaos Spear at the soldiers. It rushed down to the ground and landed with an explosion of static energy on five G.U.N. soldiers. The other fifteen soldiers who were scattered about saw the five soldiers paralyzed, burnt, and dead on the ground so they pointed their guns to the ceiling and fired away at Shadow.

Shadow maneuvered skillfully in the air around shooting bullets and hurled Chaos Spears at the soldiers firing at him. He wrathfully threw the bolts down at them, desperate to kill the soldiers, and once his spears ceased the firing, Shadow furiously and wildly shot bolts everywhere, throwing his arms this way and that to kill every single soldier there.

"Shadow!" Maria shouted through the blasts of the spears. "Stop!"

Shadow immediately halted in his attack at Maria's voice, and broken from his violent trance, Shadow pivoted in the air to where Maria was. She was standing by the crashed vehicle that was smoking and damaged with her hair rumpled and with scratches on her face from falling off the vehicle along with burns on her dress from Shadow's Chaos Spear. Shadow guiltily sank to the ground when he saw that he had hurt Maria.

"Shadow!" she was shouting pleadingly. "Don't kill them! I don't want any more people to die!"

Shadow looked at all the soldiers around him, sprawled on their faces and motionless in death with guns on the floor. He had killed them, he had taken someone's life away, but he had to, he had to save everyone.

"I have to do this Maria!" Shadow shouted back urgently. "It's the only way to save everyone!"

"But you hurt Grandfather!" Maria pointed to the vehicle right beside her where machines had fallen on top of Gerald Robotnik.

Shadow gasped. "Professor!" He rushed over to Dr. Robotnik, whose legs and waist were trapped underneath a long machine and he couldn't do anything with the bands around his arms. Shadow jumped onto the vehicle and got his hands under until it tumbled off the other side of the vehicle.

Dr. Robotnik was still wincing from the pain in his legs and Shadow anxiously apologized, "I'm so sorry, professor, I didn't mean to. I can get you out of there!"

Shadow knelt down and started tugging at the bands around Gerald Robotnik, but the professor refused, "Shadow, it's no use. You'll only hurt me if you try." He let go and Dr. Robotnik twisted and managed to get himself in a sitting position against a machine.

Maria urgently ran to her grandfather's side. "But grandfather, we have to get you out!" she exclaimed with tears. "You have to get out before more soldiers come!"

Shadow knew he couldn't just leave him there. "Please professor!" he shouted. "I can free you!"

"No," Gerald Robotnik shook his head hopelessly. "Only your Chaos Spear can penetrate through these bands and that could kill me." He looked down at his legs. "Besides, I'm not sure I'd be able to walk."

Shadow felt stressed that he couldn't save the professor. What was he going to do with him? Dr. Robotnik was defenseless.

Shadow jumped down from the vehicle and announced, "Then I have to go save everyone else, professor. I have to do something." If he couldn't help Dr. Robotnik, he had to help the others. He could still hear gunshots booming in the distance; the others still needed his help.

Maria grabbed his arm before he could run away. "Shadow!" she shouted with fright. "You can't kill more people!"

Shadow was about to argue but Dr. Robotnik said to him, "Shadow, I'm afraid it's too late." His old voice was frail as he told Shadow, "Anything you do now won't help most of our friends, for most of them are already dead, and it's just a matter of time before the rest are killed."

"No," Shadow couldn't accept it in his mind that everyone was dead. "No, I have to go." His head was spinning and he glared at Maria holding his arm and Dr. Robotnik. "They can't be dead! I need to fight G.U.N. and save them!"

"Shadow," Dr. Robotnik said. "I'm so sorry this all happened. It's just that there's nothing we can do anymore. Once G.U.N. has realized that we've been left behind, they'll come looking for us. You must run while you still can. You have to get yourself and Maria out of here."

"Grandfather, no!" Maria cried out desperately as she ran up to him and put her hands on his hand to show her fright for him. "We can't leave you here! I don't want to go without you!" Tears were running down her cheeks as she looked up at him.

Dr. Robotnik was in pain when he saw Maria's tears. "I'm so sorry, but it's too late even for me." He looked at Shadow. "I don't want you two to end up like everyone else. Shadow, you have to take Maria and yourself to the escape pods, she knows how to operate them, and you must go down to earth to safety. You must escape before G.U.N. can get you. Do not let me down, Shadow, with my last request."

Even Shadow felt his eyes watering and he couldn't hold it back. He looked down to hide it, but he couldn't conceal the grief that had overcome him. The realization that he'd never again see Dr. Robotnik, who had been almost a father figure to him, made him woeful. He was overcome by realizations that this was the end of the ARK, he'd never see anyone or anything here again, and his life would be changed forever from this.

Look at me, Shadow," Dr. Robotnik said. "And Maria." They looked up at him as he said solemnly, "I want you both to know that I love you dearly and I truly am sorry this happened. You two are the joy in my life and I ask you that you always stay together and keep that happiness that I love to see between you. Please take care of each other for me, and Shadow, always remember that I believe in you, and I believe that you can achieve great things."

Shadow saw the bittersweet emotions in his deep words that cried in departing with his beloved children, but at the same time embraced them with love and hope.

Maria felt grieved so she climbed up onto the vehicle and hugged her grandfather. Shadow felt the same grief that he saw in Maria, whose blonde hair fell on Dr. Robotnik's shoulder as she held him tight in despair of having to depart.

"Goodbye, grandfather," she whispered.

"Goodbye, Maria," he whispered.

Maria let go slowly and reluctantly stepped down as Shadow's eyes gazed at Dr. Robotnik one last time; a look which delivered his goodbye without having to say a word.


	6. Fall of the ARK: Part 2

**Fall of the ARK Part 2**

Shadow took hold of Maria's small hand and they started off without looking back. Maria kept her head down with her blonde hair masking her eyes from the dead soldiers scattered lifelessly on the floor that Shadow led her through. Shadow's hand reached out behind him to Maria to lead her through the graveyard of singed soldiers.

Once they were past, they broke into a faster run. Shadow and Maria ran through the wide curving hallway toward the escape pods that were further down the exterior hallway. The sound of their shoes clanking on the metal floor echoed through the empty deserted hall and their breathing seemed to thunder in their ears in the eerie solitude.

As they continued to run and run, Shadow began to feel panicked. He felt more alarmed for Maria's safety and began to worry that they might be found. The possibility of the G.U.N. soldiers finding them was beginning to mess with his head and he knew they only wanted him, so they wouldn't take a care in sparing the life of Maria.

They heard exploding gunshots echo from behind them. Maria turned her head over her shoulder with fright in her round blue eyes to look back, but Shadow just pushed to run faster. He pulled Maria to run faster and both of their panic increased even more from hearing the gunshots in the path behind them.

"Shadow," Maria panted behind him with staggering steps. "I can't run that fast!" She staggered more behind him and she tripped, causing Shadow to stumble with her. Shadow's hand let go as they fell to the ground with the gunshots booming in the distance.

Shadow and Maria tumbled on their sides as they hit the ground. Shadow quickly stopped himself and got to his feet, then glanced down the hall with paranoia for any soldiers, but it was empty. Maria was crawling onto her knees and Shadow rushed over to help her onto her feet.

"Forgive me, Maria," he said hastily as he pulled her up. "Are you alright?"

"I-I-I'm okay," Maria stammered, and from the fear in her distressed expression, Shadow could tell the scare hurt her more than the fall did.

Shadow grabbed her hand again and remarked quickly, "We'll make it out of here Maria. It'll be okay."

Maria nodded slightly with doubt and they started to flee once more. The dilemma had made them even more paranoid and Shadow's heart beat faster and louder. He expected G.U.N. soldiers to pop out of every curve and hall they passed and nowhere felt safe. Shadow's sight was becoming blurrier from the anxiety that attacked his mind and the windows to space and the lights shining on vast metal flew past his eyes in a fuzzy shaky blur. He could feel his hand tighten its grip on Maria's hand from his worry. His greatest fear that was overwhelming him was of the G.U.N. soldiers killing Maria and he had to get her to safety now.

It felt like the longest run of his life. Shadow kept running and Maria was pushing herself to keep up as they fled toward the escape pods, coming closer along the wide curving hall.

Then they saw it. Out the windows was the escape pod room jutting out towards space from the ARK's walls, coming closer to them. Maria exclaimed in hope, "There it is, Shadow!"

They rushed over to the skinny metal door on the wall across from a hall on the other side. Maria hurriedly pushed the small button at its side to slide the door open. They were almost there, Shadow was thinking as they quickly slipped inside the room, just a little more. The door closed behind them and Shadow didn't dare open it again to see if someone had spotted them, although he was feeling less paranoid already.

Shadow looked around and saw that the room's walls were all windows, with a view of the enormous Earth, and along the walls were about fifteen clear cylindrical escape-pods each large enough to carry one individual. Shadow felt his heart start racing. There they were: the escape pods, the tickets to their safety; all they had to do was activate them, climb inside, and launch towards Earth. Nothing would go wrong now.

Maria ran to the center of the room where a wide metal stand stood with glowing buttons and large levers. Shadow quickly followed her and saw her eyes go over the words "Capsule 1" on the machine before she pushed a button in that area. Suddenly, a capsule came to life as lights flashed on and Shadow felt more anxious to escape yet more hopeful because they were one step closer.

Then Shadow looked forward out the window and saw the Earth. "I had always hoped we would go to Earth, Maria," he said slowly. "But I'd never imagine it would be like this." He remembered with anguish the visions he had of a ceremonial departure and warm greetings on earth from the Robotniks there compared to what was happening now. Now they were escaping from the guns that had killed their friends.

Maria looked up from the machinery and looked at Shadow with sorrowful eyes. "And I would have never imagined that we'd leave everyone like this." She added with a frail voice. "I wish Grandfather was coming with us."

Shadow turned away from Earth and met Maria's eyes. "Maybe, if he's spared, we can come back and save him."

Maria looked down and nodded, but they both knew that they wouldn't be able to.

Then Maria turned back to the machine and a look of nervousness came onto her face. Suddenly, she felt overwhelmed by the intricate controls and buttons that were in front of her. Shadow could see her hands shake as she slowly pressed another button and her eyes darted back and forth in uncertainty.

"Shadow, I'm not sure if I'm doing this right," she confessed with worry.

Shadow felt a chill inside of him at the thought of not being able to escape, but he told her, "Just try your best," he said, trying to keep a straight voice.

Maria waved her hand over the buttons, looking for the right button to press, and decided on one, causing Capsule1 to start humming. While Maria was activating it, Shadow kept looking back over his shoulder through the glass at the hall. It was eerily empty, but Shadow knew someone could appear at any second, and he desperately wished Maria would go faster as she slowly managed the controls.

Then the capsule's doors swung open with a swoosh of air as pressure was released from it. Maria paused and they looked at each other; only one of them could go in.

"Shadow, you go in," Maria said. "You won't be able to activate the other one and I have to close that one before the second one can be activated. Then they'll be released after the fifty second countdown."

"Maria," Shadow suddenly grabbed her hand in fear of being separated from her. "Are you sure?" He didn't want to go first and leave her out here.

Maria nodded sternly.

Shadow looked back at the capsule and before going, he said, "Promise me you'll be right behind me, and you'll be there as quick as you can?"

Maria smiled. "I promise. We'll go to Earth together, like we always wanted."

Shadow smiled with her and slowly let go of her hand. He turned around, only having to take a few steps to get to the capsule, and he jumped inside the escape-pod. Once again, his heart beat loudly in his chest from his anxiety. They were even closer, just a little more, then they'd be in Earth. The door swung to a close from a push of a button and Shadow could feel himself holding his breath, waiting for the launch once Maria would go in her capsule.

"Come on, Maria," Shadow whispered inside the escape pod, with uneasy glances toward what little he could see of the hall they'd come from.

The second capsule burst to life with bright lights. Shadow stared in suspense at Maria, at her nervous face with the lights of the buttons reflected in her eyes, and her little hands hesitantly searched again for the right buttons. Almost there, he kept telling himself, almost there. He pressed his fingers against the glass as he stared at Maria. Almost there.

All of a sudden, the door slid open. Maria gasped and whirled around to see a G.U.N. soldier standing right there at the doorway.

"No!" Shadow shouted as he pounded the glass with his fists.

Maria trembled under the soldier's cold stare as he lifted his gun towards Maria. His hard eyes were menacing under his large black helmet and he brought the gun up to his padded shoulder, pointed forward, and said firmly, "Step away from the machine."

Shadow was frantically pounding the glass with his fists. "Just do it Maria!" he screamed. He rammed his shoulder into the glass, but it just wouldn't break. Maria stood there, holding her ground, terrified yet stubborn against the gun pointed at her and Shadow's wild pounding.

"Maria!" Shadow screamed out for her. He threw his fist against the glass with all his strength, staring at nothing but Maria, but he couldn't get out.

She turned her eyes toward Shadow, with thought in her eyes, and Shadow stopped for a second, meeting her eye and reaching out with his hand on the glass. Maria stared at him and Shadow thought he saw a growing fire in her eyes. He saw such a vivacious heat of fearlessness and determination arise from the embers of her eyes that he'd never seen before. Then she slowly turned away, looked at the Earth in the distance with the same heat in her eyes, and grabbed the large lever on the machine. Below it was the word "Launch".

Shadow gasped. "No!" he yelled out in distress. Maria was going to send him down without her and get herself killed!

The G.U.N. soldier saw the word and he hesitated, having second thoughts about killing a little girl, and he demanded, "Let go of the lever!"

Maria grasped the lever harder, not heeding the soldier's threats, and the lever budged slightly as she began pulling down with the strain showing in her eyes.

"Don't fool around with me, girl!" the soldier shouted, losing the firmness in his voice. The cold hardness was lost from his eyes, but he moved his fingers closer to the trigger of the gun.

Shadow cried out, "No!" He banged against the glass with so much strength, but he just could not escape. He couldn't let the soldier kill Maria, not his sweet Maria. He had to save her, he had to before the trigger was pulled, but the soldier saw Shadow banging against the glass and he moved his fingers even closer to the trigger.

Maria pulled harder on the lever with her eyes squinting shut and the soldier shouted, "Stop!"

The lever dropped to the bottom and the soldier pulled the trigger with a blast.

"Maria!"

A blazing bullet shot through her shoulder and she shouted in pain as the force thrust her shoulders and head forward over the lever she grasped. Then she slowly fell backwards, with her hands letting go of the lever as she lost her strength to stand. Her face lost its liveliness with her eyes gently closed as she fell and her hair floated up by her face with her dress drifting behind her falling body and her arms hanging in the air above her. Maria landed with such softness on the ground beside the capsule.

Then the countdown began for the launch.

50…

Shadow collapsed to his knees and stared with complete horror at Maria and the blood seeping from her shoulder onto her little blue sweater.

The G.U.N. soldier froze at the doorway, staring at the little girl that he had shot, and he dropped his gun to the floor. He fell against the side of the doorway onto his shoulders as if in exhaustion from guilt.

40…

Maria opened her eyes and her face winced from the pain when she moved her arms. She slowly moved her hands and heaved her shoulder up, but her wound caused more pain than she could bear, and she rested herself on her elbows to look up at Shadow.

Shadow could feel the tears forming in his eyes as he saw the blood dripping from Maria's shoulder onto the metal floor. Maria was going to die; she was going to be gone forever. Shadow clenched his fists on the floor and shouted to Maria, "Why Maria? Why have you done this?" Why had she released Shadow and killed herself?

30…

Maria weakly held herself up and looked at Shadow with sincerity and solemnity. "Shadow…I beg of you," she said with frailness. "Please do it for me, for a better future."

"Maria, what do you mean?" Shadow asked, putting his hands on the glass.

"For all of the people who live on that planet," Maria said with heavy breaths. "give them a chance to be happy."

20…

"Let them live for their dreams," she said slowly. "Shadow, I know you can do it. That's the reason why you were brought into this world."

10…

Shadow stared at Maria, with love and respect, at her weakening innocent face, with her words cementing into his heart. Shadow reached out for Maria with his hand on the glass.

Maria smiled. "Sayonara, Shadow the hedgehog."

5… Maria raised her hand…4…reached out…3…touched the glass where Shadow's hand was…2…then her hand slowly fell from his hand…1…and she finally collapsed to the ground…0.

Shadow's capsule dropped from the floor into space and the scene vanished from his eyes, but the vision of the dying Maria would haunt him for the rest of his life.


	7. Aftermath: Part 1

**Aftermath: Part 1**

Shadow's escape-capsule hurtled through space towards Earth. It fell from the Ark at an incredible speed as the Space Colony Ark grew smaller and smaller. Shadow's mind felt blank other than the feeling of absolute hopelessness and he stared at the ARK fleeting from his sight.

Shadow winced as the capsule penetrated the atmosphere and picked up speed with fire burning around it. Shadow was on his knees, clutching at the floor of the capsule and clenching his teeth at the overpowering force and heat of the speed he was falling. He fell into blue skies and soon there were clouds rushing by the glass of the capsule.

Seeing land below him, he thought he would crash into the Earth, but then a parachute popped out of the top of the capsule and his speed slowed to a floating rate. The escape-pod floated down with the large parachute above an expanse of green fields and it touched down in the middle of a large field of corn. A few stalks were crushed as it landed sideways in the field and the parachute fell all spread out over the escape-pod.

Lying on his back in the sideways capsule, Shadow breathed heavily from the descent from space with the parachute blocking his view.

Then the door of the escape pod flung open and pushed the parachute up like a tent over it. Shadow scrambled to his feet as the door opened, and pushing the parachute aside, he emerged into the air of the Earth for the first time. Shadow climbed on top of the escape pod and stood tall on it to look around him.

Shadow gazed in awe at the luscious green of the thriving stalks of corn all around him and standing on the escape pod, he could see even beyond the fields of corn to the pretty rolling hills and tall majestic trees scattered among them. He looked up at the sky and saw the plush white clouds in the pale blue, where he couldn't even see the normal black of space he was used to. Then a breeze blew by, ruffling the stalks of corn, and Shadow breathed in the clean, crisp Earth air.

Shadow reached out in front of him and plucked off a large leaf from one of the stalks of corn. He rubbed it between his fingers, enjoying its strange texture, but then he crushed it in his hands and threw it on the ground. He sat on top of the escape pod in exhaustion and anger and buried his face in his hands as Maria crossed his thoughts.

Maria…she was dead. Shadow was finally to Earth, but it was without Maria. They were supposed to share this moment together and experience the wonders of Earth at each other's side, but Maria was dead.

Shadow tilted his head back to look up at the sky, wanting to see the Space Colony ARK in the sky, but all he saw was blue. He gazed up at the sky where Maria was with a terrible longing for her.

Shadow jerked his head around when he heard a noise. Behind him way at the end of the corn field stood a farmer who had just stepped off his small red tractor. The old man stared at Shadow with bewilderment in his straw hat and overalls, but as soon as Shadow saw him, he dashed away. Shadow zoomed through the corn field of corn in a flash and left the stalks trembling as he skated toward the green fields. He skated away over and down rolling hills and meadows in a streak of orange heading nowhere.

Shadow just ran and ran with thoughts of Maria chasing him down. How could G.U.N do this? How could G.U.N. kill Maria like this and kill everyone else and destroy the ARK? It wasn't fair. Shadow's eyes were tearing up and they flew past his cheeks as he ran. How could life go on without Maria? She was the happiness to all on the ARK, and she didn't deserve to die. Shadow kept running over the hills as if he wanted to just run away from his worries.

The scenes in the Space Colony ARK replayed in his mind. The images of the hall as he ran towards the escape pods, the G.U.N soldier with his gun pointed toward Maria, and Maria lying on the floor with blood on her shoulder flashed in his eyes. Her voice rang in his ears, "Sayonara, Shadow the hedgehog," and he could see her falling to the ground when she had finally died. It was all just too much to take and Shadow finally slowed down and stopped on top of a hill, falling to his knees next to a lonesome tree.

Maria's death was just too stressful for Shadow to stay on his feet. He looked up grievingly at the small wide oak tree with its large leaves not far from the ground. Shadow imagined himself sitting under that tree with Maria, both of them admiring its beautiful leaves, and climbing onto the outstretched branches, smiling, together.

Shadow closed his eyes in pain and hung his head down over his knees. He didn't want to look at the tree. He was supposed to be looking at it with Maria. She wanted to see the nature; this was what she had wanted. Shadow clenched his fists. If Maria couldn't see the tree, then no one could!

Shadow leaped to his feet and shouted in anger. He ran to the tree and with the strength of his rage he punched the trunk with his fist, cracking the bark with a splintering blast. He threw his fist at the trunk again and the tree roared as the trunk split and began to topple. With shaking branches, it fell backwards and hit the grass in a crackling boom.

Shadow looked down upon the fallen tree with his fists still clenched, feeling like its existence wasn't worth it if its sight couldn't be given to Maria. He felt as if it was the tree's fault that Maria couldn't see it.

Then, beyond the fallen tree, Shadow saw civilization. Nearest to him were spread-out rows of homes in a wide expansion, each with a green yard and a traditional homely look with shutters and plank sidings. The homes became more dense as they went towards the heart of the town beyond, where there were an array of buildings ranging from brick to concrete and tall to wide. Shadow saw cars drive to and fro among the buildings and in the nearer homes, he saw the humans. They were outside, walking along the road or playing in the yards or watering the plants.

Shadow's fists tightened harder as he saw them. He realized as he lay eyes on them that it wasn't Professor Robotnik's fault that Maria died, it wasn't Shadow's fault, and it wasn't the tree's fault either; it was the people of the Earth's fault. The soldier who shot Maria was from Earth and it was because of him and G.U.N. that Maria was dead. Shadow's rage grew more intense. His pain was from the cruelty of the humans from Earth and all of them must be evil and wicked. They were the ones who killed everyone on the ARK and Shadow would take revenge on Earth. They took away everything from him and he would take everything away from them. They killed Maria and he would kill them. He must destroy all!


	8. Aftermath: Part 2

**Aftermath: Part 2**

Shadow shouted again and dashed toward the homes on skates of fire and he catapulted forward with Spin Attack. People screamed and homes cracked and burst apart as Shadow's spinning cannonball shot through layers of wood walls. He changed course in the air and shot through another row of homes in a flurry of splintering wood, shattering glass, bursting furniture, and rupturing trees. People were fleeing in fright from Shadow's path and witnessing the destruction in confusion and bewilderment.

Shadow landed on the road at the end of the line of homes and he looked back at the destroyed homes with evil satisfaction showing in his red eyes and his sinister grin.

Shadow whirled his head around when a car came speeding down the road toward him. The tires screeched on the white vehicle as it approached Shadow, but it was still going too fast. Shadow jumped straight into the air with the car passing right underneath him and he spun in midair to fling a lightning Chaos Spear at the car. The bottom of the car exploded from the Spear and the car spun out of control in the middle of the road until it collided with another car, demolishing both vehicles in the impact.

Shadow landed back on his feet facing the two wrecked cats and saw the driver of the white car. The man's head stuck out from underneath the lifted back of the other car that had penetrated through his car and there was blood all underneath the hat on his head. Shadow saw the blood and the dead man and held his fists up in determination. He must kill more humans and he must kill as many pathetic Earth beings as he could.

Shadow ran forward with rage where bewildered people braked their cars and ran away from the road in panic. Shadow's feet skated to the white car and his hands seized the hood of the car. The driver of the car that it had crashed into scrambled out as Shadow heaved the car off the ground, ripping it away from the other car. The parts of the car groaned from being lifted and Shadow clenched his teeth from the strain of its weight.

Then Shadow flung the car forward and people screamed. The car flew fast through the air just above the road while spinning sideways until it crashed into one of the cars on the road. They hit each other with a bang and the force of the throw sent both carts flying. The other car went rolling on the road and it smashed through multiple vehicles in a path of demolition while the white car bounced off away from the road. Tumbling violently through people's yards, it trampled any lone object and killed any person it contacted. It crashed through a mailbox and finally stopped when it hit a car parked in the side road.

Shadow smiled maliciously at the smashed cars in the road with traces of blood and dead people inside of them and the yards around the branched-off road where bloody people lay in torn-up grass and dirt. These evil humans were getting what they deserved, Shadow thought, when he saw a woman near him lying dead by her flower bushes.

A man opened the door of one of the cars that had been smashed and Shadow whipped his head around in alarm at him. The man's arm was bleeding, but he came out alive, and Shadow wouldn't accept that! Shadow rolled into Spin Attack and zoomed toward the man to knock him dead in a flash just as the man tried to run out of the car.

Shadow continued to spin in the air and he flew forward down the road. He shot through the few cars that were on the road, killing their occupants with is force and speed, and then he curved through the air toward another road.

He flew above brick shops and town buildings of various sizes and shapes which lined the road. Shadow knew there were more Earth-humans in these buildings so he crashed down with his Spin Attack on one of the buildings. He blew through the brick and concrete on the flat roof with some difficulty and he cracked the tile floor as he landed. People all around him at open desks screamed and jumped up in surprise. The sight of the people enraged Shadow and his want was to kill. He spun into his destructive ball and he crazily ricocheted back and forth all around the building, blasting through some interior walls, to kill all of the building's occupants by knocking them dead. Shadow didn't stop killing, with the grief of Maria's death fueling his hatred.

Then Shadow rolled out the front door and shattered its glass to find the nest building outside that would meet its death. He continued to crush the other buildings in the town, causing chaos, destruction, and death. There were groceries, restaurants, school buildings, and other buildings where unsuspecting people were killed and crushed by collapsing walls from Shadow's Spin Attack.

After repeatedly hammering a small building with Spin Attack until it collapsed, Shadow flew onto the road and landed on his feet in surprise when something caught his attention.

Shadow stared in bewilderment at a line of soldiers stretched across the road, marching towards him, with more soldiers behind them, and behind those, there were lines of armored trucks equipped with weaponry spread out in the distance on the road. Most of the town had fled already or were dead and Shadow stared at the disturbance in the town.

Then Shadow gasped and his eyes widened when he saw "G.U.N." written across the soldier's chests and on the sides of the vehicles. The soldiers and trucks advanced toward him from down the road and Shadow realized what they were here for. They hadn't finished their job on the Space Colony ARK and they were here to capture him. G.U.N. had found out where his escape pod landed and they were here for a fight to put a final stop to Project:Shadow.

Shadow curled his hands into tight fists. He wouldn't let G.U.N. capture him. Not after what they did to Maria and everyone else on the ARK. He would make them pay for what they did on the ARK!

Shadow skated forward down the road and the G.U.N. soldiers raised their guns. They fired together at Shadow, who ran straightforward at them without fear of being shot. Bullets exploded on little spots on the road all around Shadow and he rolled into a ball as he approached them. Shadow rolled right through a line of soldiers, knocking them off their feet and sending them flying toward the armored trucks as he killed them.

Shadow stopped at the end of the line of soldiers, turned around on his feet, and as the G.U.N. soldiers started to fire again, Shadow swung his arms to throw a double Chaos Spear at each side of soldiers around him. The lightning spears electrified all of the soldiers and knocked them dead to the ground, but the bullets they had shot hit Shadow in the arm. Shadow clutched his arm in pain and he felt the spot on his arm burn on his flesh. He quickly looked down at his arm, expecting to see blood like he saw on Maria's shoulder, but there was no blood. The bullets didn't go through him.

The trucks behind Shadow drove even closer to Shadow and he flew into the air when he heard how close the sounds of their engines were. Shadow turned to see the trucks close behind him on the road and there were turrets mounted on top of the armored trucks that aimed at him as he flew up.

The trucks fired rapidly at Shadow with heavy bullets, but he rolled into a spinning ball in midair and he flew out of the way of the bullets. Shadow rolled to the nearest truck and he crashed straight through its hood. His Spin Attack smashed the front of the truck and knocked it over backwards as he rolled through it, but the other trucks were still firing at him. One of the turrets aimed straight at Shadow as he slowly rammed into another G.U.N. truck and Shadow was shot with bullet after bullet in his Spin Attack. The bullets penetrated through his spin and Shadow shouted, falling to the ground with his skin being stabbed repeatedly by bullets until the turret ran out of bullets.

Shadow slowly and painfully rose to his feet again with a struggle and as the truck was reloading, Shadow threw a Chaos Spear at it and the gun exploded.

Shadow fell to his knees as the pain from the bullets drained energy from him. He winced as his movements caused more pain in his body, but he heard the G.U.N. trucks fire again, so he forced himself to stand again. He began to skate away from the trucks, but he couldn't escape. The guns' fire hit him directly on the back and Shadow shouted again as the bullets hit him forward to the ground. Shadow's head hit the road and his arms sprawled out in front of him. Even more pain surged through his body now and his mind became panicked of his lessening strength. He couldn't lose to G.U.N!

Shadow rose to his knees on the road looking beat and exhausted. He had to get up and fight G.U.N, but he was losing energy. He couldn't let them kill him if that's what they were planning to do to end the Professor's work and most of all he couldn't let them get away with killing Maria, but when Shadow looked up, his hopes fell.

In front of him were even more armed G.U.N vehicles on the road. Shadow looked up ahead of him, and then back behind him, and he was surrounded. This was the end for him. The large truck in front of Shadow lowered its gun to aim at him. Shadow knelt there, facing his end, remembering back at what he lost. He lost the life he had on the ARK, he lost his friend Professor Robotnik, he lost the life he could have had on Earth, and he lost Maria.

The gun clicked and fired at Shadow. The bullets hit him in the chest and bullets hit him in the back and as he was pounded down, Shadow closed his eyes and remembered Maria through the pain. Shadow remembered a time when he was with Maria when she hugged him in her arms as the bullets slowly pulled Shadow to the ground. He remembered having her soft hair against his head and her sweet voice telling him she loved him as the pain brought him into unconsciousness and the last thing he remembered was the vision of Maria's face as he fell on his back. He fell into a sleep, that G.U.N would make last fifty years, where they would keep him, trapped inside a capsule, preserving his life in secrecy, until the day he would awake, and open his eyes, to take revenge on Earth, or fulfill his destiny.


End file.
